Wireless communication apparatus, allocated resource notifying method and data allocating method

ABSTRACT

Provided are a radio transmission apparatus and a radio transmission method whereby the increase of number of signaling bits can be suppressed and further the flexibility of frequency scheduling can be improved. A notified RBG calculating unit ( 203 ) that adds a predetermined offset value of “1” or “−1” to one of the start RBG number and the end RBG number of allocated RBG number information (b′i) output by a scheduling unit ( 201 ), thereby calculating notified RBG number information (bi). An RBG total number setting unit ( 204 ) calculates the total number of RBGs, which is to be notified, by adding “1” to the total number of allocated RBGs. A notified information generating unit ( 205 ) applies the notified RBG number information (bi) and the notified total number of RBGs (Nrb′) to a predetermined formula, thereby generating and transmitting, to terminals, notified information (r).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a radio communication apparatus forreporting a frequency resource allocation and a method of reporting anallocation resource, and a radio communication apparatus for receiving anotification of an allocated frequency resource and a method ofallocating data.

BACKGROUND ART

Studies are underway to apply a non-contiguous band transmission inaddition to a contiguous band transmission to an uplink of LTE-Advanced,which is the development product of 3rd Generation Partnership ProjectLong Term Evolution (3GPP LTE), in order to improve sector throughput.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the contiguous band transmission is a techniqueused to allocate a transmission signal of one terminal to the contiguousfrequency band. Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 1B, the non-contiguous bandtransmission is a technique used to allocate a transmission signal ofone terminal to non-contiguous frequency bands. Compared to thecontiguous band transmission, the non-contiguous band transmissionenhances flexibility of allocating the transmission signal of eachterminal to the frequency band, and thus may obtain a larger frequencyscheduling effect.

In LTE-Advanced, limiting the maximum number of clusters (i.e.,contiguous band block or a unit) in the non-contiguous bands to two hasbeen studied, in order to decrease the number of signaling bits offrequency resource allocating information that is reported from a basestation to a terminal.

In the non-contiguous band allocation of LTE-Advanced, allocating afrequency resource to the terminal in a frequency unit referred to as anRB Group (RBG), which includes a plurality of RBs (Resource Blocks:1RB=180 kHz), has been studied. The technique disclosed in non-patentliterature 1 is known as a method of reporting RBG that the base stationallocates to the terminal.

Non-patent literature 1 discloses that, in order to perform thenon-contiguous band allocation, the base station converts a start RBGindex and an end RBG index of each cluster to be allocated to theterminal into notification information r (i.e., combinatorial index)calculated by equation 1 and notifies the terminal of the result.

$\begin{matrix}\lbrack 1\rbrack & \; \\{{{r = {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{{2M} - 1}{\langle\begin{matrix}{N_{rb} - b} \\{{2M} - i}\end{matrix}\rangle}}},{r \in \left\{ {0,\ldots \;,{\begin{pmatrix}N_{rb} \\{2M}\end{pmatrix} - 1}} \right\}}}{{{in}\mspace{14mu} {which}\mspace{14mu} {\langle\begin{matrix}x \\y\end{matrix}\rangle}} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{\begin{pmatrix}x \\y\end{pmatrix} = {{}_{}^{\;}{}_{}^{\;}}} & {x \geq y} \\0 & {x < y}\end{matrix} \right.}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right)\end{matrix}$

N_(rb) indicates the total number of RBGs, and M indicates the number ofclusters. Also, b₁ indicates the i-th element of an information sequencein which the start and the end RBG indices of the clusters are arrangedin order of cluster indices, which includes a start

RBG index s_(i) and an end RBG index e_(i), i, e., an RGB indexindicating a start or end position of cluster band, where i={0, 1, . . ., 2M−2, 2M−1} holds true as for cluster index i, and is defined asbelow.

b _(i) =s _(i/2) (when i is an even number)

b _(i) =e _((i−1)/2) (when i is an odd number)

In other words, b_(i)={b₀, b₁, . . . , b_(2M−2), b_(2M−1)}={s₀, e₀, s₁,e₁, . . . s_(M−1), e_(M−1)} holds true. As shown in equation 2, s_(i)and e_(i) which are components of b_(i) are defined in ascending orderusing different integers as shown in equation 2. According to thisdefinition, the terminal can uniquely derive 2M RBG indices (b_(i)) fromthe reported notification information r.

s _(i) <e _(i) <s _(i+1) <e _(i+1)   (Equation 2)

Since “r” in equation 1 includes components corresponding to the numberof combinations to select different 2M from N_(rb), the number ofnecessary signaling bits L is represented by equation 3.

$\begin{matrix}\lbrack 2\rbrack & \; \\{L = \left\lceil {\log_{2}\begin{pmatrix}N_{rb} \\{2M}\end{pmatrix}} \right\rceil} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 3} \right)\end{matrix}$

FIG. 2 shows the numbers of signaling bits Ls, which is calculated byequation 3, at N_(rb)=25RBG and N_(rb)=50RBG in the case of M=2.

CITATION LIST Non-Patent Literature NPL 1

-   R1-103158, Motorola, “Control Signaling for Non-Contiguous UL

Resource Allocations”

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

FIG. 3 shows an example of non-contiguous band allocation at the numberof clusters M=2 using a technique disclosed in the above-mentionednon-patent literature 1. As shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to allocatetwo clusters having different cluster bandwidths such as RBG indices 1to 2 and RBG indices 6 to 8, respectively, by reporting RBG indices of{s₀, e₀, s₁, e₁}={1, 2, 6, 8} by r of equation 1.

However, RBG indices reported by r (i.e., combinatorial index) must bedifferent from each other in order to uniquely derive the RBG indicesfrom r. Accordingly, a cluster bandwidth of one RBG cannot be allocatedto a terminal (for example, when two clusters such as RBG index 1 andRBG index 6 having the cluster bandwidth of one RBG are allocated,notification including the same RBG indices such as {s₀, e₀, s₁, e₁}={1,1, 6, 6} is impossible). For this reason, frequency schedulingflexibility of a base station is decreased and therefore the improvementeffect of a system performance due to the non-contiguous band allocationis limited.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a radiocommunication apparatus, a method of reporting an allocation resource,and a method of allocating data that limit an increase in the number ofsignaling bits and enhance frequency scheduling flexibility.

Solution to Problem

A radio communication apparatus of the present invention employs aconfiguration including: a scheduling section that determines frequencyresource indices indicating a frequency resource to be allocated to acommunication destination apparatus; a frequency resource informationgenerating section that adds a predetermined offset value to a startindex or an end index of the frequency resource to be allocated amongthe frequency resource indices, and generates notification informationto be reported to the communication destination apparatus; and atransmission section that transmits the notification information.

The radio communication apparatus of the present invention employs aconfiguration including: a reception section that receives notificationinformation that indicates frequency resource indices and that istransmitted by a communication destination apparatus; a frequencyresource information calculating section that adds a predeterminedoffset value to a start index or an end index of a frequency resourcebased on the notification information, and calculates an allocatedfrequency resource; and an allocation section that allocates data to theallocated frequency resource.

A method of reporting an allocation resource of the present inventionincludes the steps of: determining frequency resource indices indicatinga frequency resource to be allocated to a communication destinationapparatus; adding a predetermined offset value to a start index or anend index of the frequency resource to be allocated among the frequencyresource indices, and generating notification information to be reportedto the communication destination apparatus; and transmits thenotification information.

A method of allocating data of the present invention includes the stepsof: receiving notification information that indicates frequency resourceindices and that is transmitted by a communication destinationapparatus; adding a predetermined offset value to a start index or anend index of the reported frequency resource based on the notificationinformation, and calculating the allocated frequency resource; andallocating data to the allocated frequency resource.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, limiting an increase in the numberof signaling bits and enhancing frequency scheduling flexibility arepossible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows contiguous band allocation and non-contiguous bandallocation;

FIG. 2 shows the numbers of signaling bits disclosed in non-patentliterature 1;

FIG. 3 shows an example of the non-contiguous band allocation of thenumber of clusters M=2 using a technique disclosed in non-patentliterature 1;

FIG. 4 is a main block diagram of a terminal according to Embodiment 1of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a main block diagram of a base station according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a radiocommunication terminal apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the base stationaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows an example operation of frequency resource allocation whena notification RBG index is associated with an allocation RBG index byequation 6;

FIG. 9 shows an example operation of the frequency resource allocationwhen the notification RBG index is associated with the allocation RBGindex by equation 7;

FIG. 10 shows the number of signaling bits in Embodiment 1;

FIG. 11 shows the contiguous band allocation;

FIG. 12 shows a comparison result of the number of conventionalsignaling bits and the number of signaling bits in Embodiment 1;

FIG. 13 shows an example operation of frequency resource allocation inEmbodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 14 shows an example operation of frequency resource allocation whenthe notification RBG index is associated with the allocation RBG indexin Embodiment 3 of the present invention; and

FIG. 15 shows contiguous band allocation in Embodiment 3 of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be describedin detail with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1

A communication system according to the present invention includes radiocommunication terminal apparatus 100 (hereinafter, simply referred to asa “terminal”) and radio communication base station apparatus 200(hereinafter, simply referred to as a “base station”). For example,terminal 100 is an LTE-A terminal and base station 200 is an LTE-A basestation. Base station 200 determines an allocation resource to beallocated to data transmitted by terminal 100, and notifies terminal 100of the determined allocation resource information. Terminal 100allocates data to be transmitted, based on the information of theallocation resource notified by base station 200, and transmits theallocated data to base station 200.

FIG. 4 is a main block diagram of terminal 100 according to Embodiment 1of the present invention. In terminal 100, reception section 102receives notification information that indicates frequency resourceindices and that is transmitted by base station 200 that is acommunication destination apparatus. Frequency resource informationcalculating section 105 adds a predetermined offset value to the startindex or the end index of a frequency resource based on the notificationinformation, and calculates the allocated frequency resource. Mappingsection 112 allocates data to the allocated frequency resource.

FIG. 5 is a main block diagram of base station 200 according toEmbodiment 1 of the present invention. In base station 200, schedulingsection 201 determines frequency resource indices indicating a frequencyresource to be allocated to terminal 100 that is a communicationdestination apparatus. Frequency resource information generating section202 adds a predetermined offset value to the start index or the endindex of the frequency resource to be allocated, among the frequencyresource indices, and generates notification information to be reportedto terminal 100. Transmission section 207 transmits the notificationinformation.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of terminal 100according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The configuration ofterminal 100 will be described below with reference to FIG. 6.

Reception section 102 receives the signal transmitted from base station200 via antenna 101, performs reception processing such asdown-conversion and A/D conversion on the received signal, and outputsthe received signal subjected to the reception processing todemodulation section 103.

Demodulation section 103 demodulates the scheduling information that istransmitted from the base station and that is included in the receivedsignal output from reception section 102, and outputs the demodulatedscheduling information to scheduling information decoding section 104.The scheduling information includes, for example, notificationinformation indicating frequency resource information of thetransmission signal transmitted from the terminal.

Scheduling information decoding section 104 decodes the schedulinginformation output from demodulation section 103, and outputs thenotification information included in the decoded scheduling informationto notification RBG calculating section 107 of frequency resourceinformation calculating section 105. The notification information rreported from the base station indicates a combinatorial indexcalculated by a predetermined equation using the start RBG index and theend RBG index of each cluster.

Frequency resource information calculating section 105 includes RBGtotal number setting section 106, notification RBG calculating section107 and allocation RBG calculating section 108. Frequency resourceinformation calculating section 105 calculates frequency resourceallocating information (b′_(i)) indicating the frequency resourceallocated to terminal 100 according to a rule described hereinafter,using notification information r output from scheduling informationdecoding section 104, and outputs the result to mapping section 112.

RBG total number setting section 106 outputs the total number of RBGs tobe reported from the base station to terminal 100 (i.e., notificationRBG total number N_(rb)′), to notification RBG calculating section 107.Notification RBG total number N_(rb)′ is calculated as the followingequation 4. Thus, the total number of RBGs to be allocated to terminal100 (i.e., allocation RBG total number N_(rb)) is uniquely determined bya system in advance, and is determined to be, for example, the totalnumber of RBGs corresponding to a system bandwidth.

Notification RBG total number (N _(rb)′)=allocation RBG total number (N_(rb))+1   (Equation 4)

Notification RBG calculating section 107 applies notificationinformation r output from scheduling information decoding section 104,notification RBG total number N_(rb)′ output from RBG total numbersetting section 106, and the maximum number of clusters M defined by thesystem in advance, to the following equation 5. Accordingly,notification RBG calculating section 107 derives an information sequencein which the start RBG indices and the end RBG indices of clusters arearranged in the order of cluster indices (i.e., notification RBG indexinformation b_(i) of which definition is the same as equation 1), andoutputs the result to allocation RBG calculating section 108. In thiscase, it is possible to uniquely derive b_(i) from notificationinformation r by setting a limitation that component elements of b_(i)are arranged in ascending order and are different from each other.

$\begin{matrix}\lbrack 3\rbrack & \; \\{{r = {{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{{2M} - 1}{\langle\begin{matrix}{N_{rb}^{\prime} - b_{i}} \\{{2M} - i}\end{matrix}\rangle}} = {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{{2M} - 1}{\langle\begin{matrix}{\left( {N_{rb} + 1} \right) - b_{i}} \\{{2M} - i}\end{matrix}\rangle}}}},{r \in \left\{ {0,\ldots \;,{\begin{pmatrix}{N_{rb} + 1} \\{2M}\end{pmatrix} - 1}} \right\}}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 5} \right)\end{matrix}$

Allocation RBG calculating section 108 calculates RBG index information(i.e., allocation RBG index information b′_(i)={s′₀, e′₀, s′₁, e′₁, . .. s_(M−1), e′_(M−1)}) to which terminal 100 actually allocates thetransmission signal, based on notification RBG index informationb_(i)=s₀, e₀, s₁, e₁, . . . s_(M−1), e_(M−1)} output from notificationRBG calculating section 107, and outputs the result to mapping section112. To be more specific, allocation RBG calculating section 108calculates allocation RBG indices from notification RBG indices as shownin equation 6 or equation 7.

Allocation start RBG index (s′ _(i))=notification start RBG index (s_(i))

Allocation end RBG index (e′ _(i))=notification end RBG index (e ₁)−1  (Equation 6)

Allocation start RBG index (s′ _(i))=notification start RBG index (s_(i))+1

Allocation end RBG index (e′ _(i))=notification end RBG index (e _(i))  (Equation 7)

Also, the allocation RBG index information is a synonym of the frequencyresource information.

Coding section 109 encodes transmission data and outputs the encodeddata to modulation section 110. Modulation section 110 modulates theencoded data output from coding section 109, and outputs the modulateddata to DFT section 111.

DFT section 111 performs Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) processing onthe modulated data output from modulation section 110, and outputs themodulated data subjected to the DFT processing to mapping section 112 asa data signal.

Mapping section 112 maps the data signal output from DFT section 111 toa resource of a frequency domain, based on allocation RBG indexinformation (b′_(i)) output from allocation RBG calculating section 108.Specifically, the data signal is mapped to the range from allocationstart RBG index (s′_(i)) to allocation end RBG index (e′_(i)) of thefrequency band of cluster index i. Mapping section 112 performs thismapping for M clusters and outputs a transmission signal to which thedata signal is mapped, to IFFT section 113.

IFFT section 113 performs Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT)processing on the transmission signal output from mapping section 112,and outputs the result to CP adding section 114. CP adding section 114adds a signal that is the same as the signal in the end part of thetransmission signal output from IFFT section 113, to the beginning ofthe transmission signal as Cyclic Prefix (CP), and outputs the result totransmission section 115.

Transmission section 115 performs transmission processing such as D/Aconversion, up-conversion and amplification on the transmission signalto which the CP is added and that is output from CP adding section 114,and then transmits the transmission signal subjected to the transmissionprocessing via antenna 101.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of base station 200 ofEmbodiment 1 of the present invention. The configuration of base station200 will be described below with reference to FIG. 7.

Scheduling section 201 determines allocation RBG index information(i.e., b′_(i)={s′₀, e′₀, s′₁, e′₁, . . . s′_(M−1), e′_(M−1)}) as thefrequency resource allocating information indicating frequency resourcesto be allocated to the terminal, and outputs the result to holdingsection 209 and notification RBG calculating section 203 of frequencyresource information generating section 202.

Frequency resource information generating section 202 includesnotification RBG calculating section 203, RBG total number settingsection 204, and notification information generating section 205.Frequency resource information generating section 202 generatesnotification information r according to a below-mentioned rule usingallocation RBG index information (b′_(i)) output from scheduling section201, and outputs the result to modulation section 206.

Notification RBG calculating section 203 applies allocation RBG indexinformation (b′_(i)) output from scheduling section 201 to equation 6 orequation 7, calculates RBG indices (i.e., notification RBG indexinformation b_(i)) to be reported to the terminal, and outputs theresult to notification information generating section 205.

RBG total number setting section 204 sets notification RBG total numberN_(rb)′ (i.e., the total number of RBGs to be reported to the terminal)calculated by equation 4 to notification information generating section205.

Notification information generating section 205 applies notification RBGindex information (b_(i)) output from notification RBG calculatingsection 203 and notification RBG total number (N_(rb)′) set by RBG totalnumber setting section 204 to equation 5. Notification informationgenerating section 205 then generates and outputs notificationinformation r to modulation section 206.

Modulation section 206 modulates notification information r output fromnotification information generating section 205, and outputs the resultto transmission section 207 as a control signal. Transmission section207 performs transmission processing such as DIA conversion,up-conversion, and amplification on the control signal output frommodulation section 206, and transmits the control signal subjected tothe transmission processing via antenna 208.

Holding section 209 holds allocation RBG index information (b′_(i))output from scheduling section 201 in order to receive a signaltransmitted from the terminal to which the frequency resources areallocated. When receiving the signal from a desired terminal, holdingsection 209 outputs held allocation RBG index information (b′_(i)) todemapping section 214.

Reception section 211 receives the signal, which is transmitted from theterminal, via antenna 210, and performs reception processing such asdown-conversion and A/D conversion on the received signal. Receptionsection 211 outputs the received signal subjected to the receptionprocessing to CP removing section 212.

CP removing section 212 removes the CP added to the beginning of thereceived signal output from reception section 211 and outputs the resultto FFT section 213. FFT section 213 performs FFT processing on thereceived signal from which the CP is removed and that is output from CPremoving section 212, to convert the received signal into a frequencydomain signal, and outputs the converted frequency domain signal todemapping section 214.

Demapping section 214 as an extraction means extracts a data signalcorresponding to the transmission band of the desired terminal from thefrequency domain signal output from FFT section 213 in accordance withthe allocation RBG index information output from holding section 209.Demapping section 214 outputs the extracted data signal to frequencydomain equalizing section 215.

Frequency domain equalizing section 215 performs equalization processingon the data signal output from demapping section 214, and outputs thedata signal to IDFT section 216. IDFT section 216 performs InverseDiscrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) processing on the data signal on whichthe equalization processing is performed and that is output fromfrequency domain equalizing section 215, and outputs the data signal todemodulation section 217.

Demodulation section 217 applies demodulation processing to the datasignal that is subjected to the IDFT processing and that is output fromIDFT section 216, and outputs the data signal to decoding section 115.Decoding section 218 performs decoding processing on the demodulatedsignal output from demodulation section 217 and extracts received data.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned allocation RBG calculatingsection 108 of terminal 100 will be described. An example where themaximum number of clusters M is two will be shown below.

FIG. 8 shows an example operation to allocate frequency resources whennotification RBG indices are associated with allocation RBG indices byequation 6. FIG. 8 shows an example where notification RBG total numberN_(rb)′=9, and allocation RBG total number N_(rb)=8, and notificationRBG index information b_(i) reported from the base station to theterminal is set to b_(i)={s₀, e₀, s₁, e₁}={1, 3, 8, 9}.

In the present case, allocation RBG index information b′_(i) to beactually allocated to the terminal is calculated by equation 6 asb′_(i)={s′₀=s₀, e′₀=e₀−1, s′₁=s₁, e′₁=e₁−1}={1, 2, 8, 8}. Accordingly,shaded RBG indices (#1, #2, and #8) of FIG. 8 are the frequencyresources to be allocated. In other words, when the allocation start RBGindex is equal to the allocation end RBG index as the above-mentioneds′₁ and e′₁, it is possible to allocate a cluster bandwidth of one RBG.

FIG. 9 shows an example operation to allocate frequency resources whennotification RBG indices are associated with allocation RBG indices byequation 7. FIG. 9 shows an example where notification RBG total numberN_(rb)′=9, allocation RBG total number N_(rb)=8, and notification RBGindex information b_(i) reported from the base station to the terminalis set to b_(i){s₀, e₀, s₁, e₁}={0, 2, 7, 8}.

In the present case, allocation RBG index information b′_(i) to beactually allocated to the terminal is calculated by equation 7 asb′_(i)={s′₀=s₀+1, e₀′=e₀, s′₁=s₁+1, e′₁=e₁=}{1, 2, 8, 8}. Accordingly,shaded RBG indices (#1, #2, and #8) of FIG. 9 are the frequencyresources to be allocated. In other words, when the allocation start RBGindex is equal to the allocation end RBG index as in FIG. 8, it ispossible to allocate a cluster bandwidth of one RBG.

The number of signaling bits required for notification information r inEmbodiment 1 can be calculated by the following equation 8.

$\begin{matrix}\lbrack 4\rbrack & \; \\{L = \left\lceil {\log_{2}\begin{pmatrix}{N_{rb} + 1} \\{2M}\end{pmatrix}} \right\rceil} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 8} \right)\end{matrix}$

FIG. 10 shows the numbers of signaling bits Ls, which are calculated byequation 8 at N_(rb)=25 RBGs and N_(rb)=50 RBGs in the case of M=2.Compared with FIG. 2, FIG. 10 shows that the number of signaling bitsdoes not increase.

According to Embodiment 1, in a method of reporting a frequency resourcefor the non-contiguous band allocation, notification information rcalculated by the predetermined equation while the total number of RBGsto be reported is set as “RBG total number +1,” and a predeterminedoffset value of 1 or −1 is added to any one of the start RBG indices orthe end RBG indices among the notification RBG indices to be reported tothe terminal. The calculated notification information r is transmittedfrom the base station to the terminal, and the allocation RBG indices,to which the terminal actually allocates the transmission signal, isderived. Thus, the base station can freely allocate the clusterbandwidth in RBG units including one RBG, to the terminal. In addition,enhancement in frequency scheduling flexibility and the non-contiguousband allocation can improve system performance. Also, the increase inthe number of signaling bits can be minimized.

Also, the conventional technique can be reused with in a simpleconfiguration, which is to add the predetermined offset, by using acombinatorial index as notification information r. There is no need toimplement, for example, exceptional processing when the allocation RBGindices are derived from the notification RBG indices, and thus it isenough to have a simple transmission reception configuration.

In the present embodiment, it is not possible to report contiguous bandallocation that is available in the conventional technique as shown inFIG. 11. However, in LTE-Advanced, it is possible to constantly transmita control signal for the contiguous band allocation referred to as DCIFormat 0 from the base station to the terminal, in addition to thecontrol signal for the non-contiguous band allocation.

A method of reporting a frequency resource of DCI Format 0 is todesignate one cluster allocation by performing allocation limited to onecluster on a per RB basis (contiguous band allocation) and by reportingtwo RB indices of a start RB index (corresponding to s₀) and an end RBindex (corresponding to e₀). In the case of performing frequencyresource allocation shown in FIG. 11, only start RB index in RBG index 1and end RB index in RBG index 6 need to be reported.

It is possible to indicate the contiguous band allocation shown in FIG.11 by switching the method of reporting the frequency resourcesdepending on the number of clusters that the base station allocates tothe terminal. In other words, one or more cluster bands can be allocatedto the terminal by using the method of allocating the frequencyresources for the non-contiguous band allocation described in Embodiment1 when the number of clusters is two or more, and by using the method(e.g., DCI format 0) for allocating the frequency resources for thecontiguous band allocation when the number of clusters is one.

Embodiment 2

In Embodiment 1, the number of necessary signaling bits is calculated byequation 8. As a result, the number of signaling bits may increase onebit, compared with the conventional technique using equation 3 for thecalculation.

FIG. 12 shows the comparison result of the respective numbers ofsignaling bits calculated by equation 8 in Embodiment 1 and by equation3 in the conventional technique. According to FIG. 12, in a case wherethe allocation RBG total numbers N_(rb) of 16, 19, 22, and 26 RBG, therespective numbers of signaling bits in Embodiment 1 increase one bit.

The configuration of a terminal according to Embodiment 2 of the presentinvention is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 6 ofEmbodiment 1. Although some of functions may differ, these functionswill be explained with reference to FIG. 6.

RBG total number setting section 106 outputs the total number (N_(rb)′)of RBG reported from a base station to the terminal, to notification RBGcalculating section 107. When equation 9 holds true (that is, the numberof signaling bits in Embodiment 1 is one bit larger than the number ofconventional signaling bits), the notification RBG total number iscalculated as notification RBG total number (N_(rb)′)=allocation RBGtotal number (N_(rb)). When equation 9 is not valid, the notificationRBG total number is calculated by equation 4 as in Embodiment 1.

$\begin{matrix}\lbrack 5\rbrack & \; \\{\left\lceil {\log_{2}\begin{pmatrix}N_{rb} \\{2M}\end{pmatrix}} \right\rceil < \left\lceil {\log_{2}\begin{pmatrix}{N_{rb} + 1} \\{2M}\end{pmatrix}} \right\rceil} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 9} \right)\end{matrix}$

The configuration of a base station according to Embodiment 2 of thepresent invention is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 7 ofEmbodiment 1 except for the function of RBG total number setting section204. However, because RBG total number setting section 204 is the sameas the above-mentioned RBG total number setting section 106 of aterminal in Embodiment 2, the detailed description thereon will beomitted.

As described above, while operating as Embodiment 1 when equation 9 isnot valid, RBG total number setting section 106 matches notification RBGtotal number N_(rb)′ to allocation RBG total number N_(rb) as in theconventional technique when equation 9 holds true (as shown in FIG. 12,the number of signaling bits is one bit larger than the conventionaltechnique). Thus, the number of signaling bits required for notificationinformation r can be calculated by equation 3, and therefore it ispossible to maintain the same number of signaling bits as theconventional technique.

When equation 9 is not valid, the frequency resources are allocated asshown in FIG. 8. Meanwhile, when equation 9 holds true, in the frequencyresources allocation, the allocatable range is reduced by one RBG asshown in FIG. 13 to prevent an increase in the number of signaling bits.

By this means, Embodiment 2 has a limitation in that one RBG of the endof the system band (e.g., RBG index 8 in FIG. 13) cannot be used forallocation. However, in LTE-Advanced, both ends of the system band aregenerally used for transmitting control channel (e.g., PUCCH). Thefrequency scheduling gain is not decreased much by such a limitation,even when data channel (e.g., PUSCH) is not allocated to the both endsof the system band. Thus, the increase in the number of signaling bitscan be prevented while deterioration in performance is minimized.

According to Embodiment 2, the increase in the number of signaling bitscan be prevented by matching a notification RBG total number to anallocation RBG total number only when the number of signaling bitsrequired for notification information r is one bit larger than theconventional technique.

Embodiment 3

The configuration of a terminal according to Embodiment 3 of the presentinvention is similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 6 ofEmbodiment 1. Although some functions may differ, these functions willbe explained with reference to FIG. 6.

RBG total number setting section 106 always calculates the total number(N_(rb)′) of RBG to be reported from a base station to the terminal sothat notification RBG total number (N_(rb)′)=allocation RBG total number(N_(rb)) holds true, and outputs the result to notification RBGcalculating section 107.

Allocation RBG calculating section 108 calculates allocation RBG used bythe terminal to actually transmit a signal, based on notification RBGindex information b-hd i={s₀, e₀, s₁, e₁, . . . s_(M−1), e_(M−1)} outputfrom notification RBG calculating section 107. To be more specific,allocation RBG calculating section 108 calculates an allocation startRBG index in the cluster (i.e., cluster index 0) located in the lowestfrequency band by setting allocation start RBG index(s′_(i))=notification start RBG index (s_(i))+1, and an allocation endRBG index in the cluster (i.e., cluster index M−1) located in thehighest frequency band by setting allocation end RBG index(e′_(i))=notification end RBG index (e_(i))−1.

The configuration of a base station according to Embodiment 3 of thepresent invention is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 7 inEmbodiment 1 except for functions of notification RBG calculatingsection 203 and RBG total number setting section 204. RBG total numbersetting section 204 is the same as RBG total number setting section 106of the terminal according to Embodiment 3, and therefore a detaileddescription thereon will be omitted.

Based on allocation RBG index information (b′_(i)) output fromscheduling section 201, notification RBG calculating section 203 setsnotification RBG index information (b_(i)) to be reported to a terminalby calculating a notification start RBG index in the cluster (i.e.,cluster index 0) located in the lowest frequency band to be allocationstart RBG index (s′_(i))=notification start RBG index (s_(i))+1, and anotification end RBG index in the cluster (i.e., cluster index M−1)located in the highest frequency band to be allocation end RBG index(e′_(i))=notification end RBG index (e_(i))−1. Accordingly, notificationRBG calculating section 203 outputs the notification RBG indexinformation (b_(i)) to notification information generating section 205.

Next, the operation in allocation RBG calculating section 108 in theabove-mentioned terminal will be described. Hereinafter, an examplewhere the maximum number of clusters M is two will be described.

FIG. 14 shows an example operation of frequency resource allocation whennotification RBG indices are associated with allocation RBG indices inEmbodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 14 shows a case wherenotification RBG total number N_(rb)′=alloeation RBG total number Nrb=8and notification RBG index information b_(i) reported from the basestation is set to b_(i)={s₀, e₀, s₁, e₁}={1, 3, 7, 8}.

In this case, allocation RBG index information to be actually allocatedto the terminal is calculated by notification RBG calculating section107 as b′_(i)={s′₀=s₀+1, e₀′=e₀, s′₁=s₁, e′₁=e₁−1}={2, 3, 7, 7}.Accordingly, the shaded RBG indices (#2, #3, and #7) of FIG. 14 are thefrequency resources to be allocated.

The number of signaling bits required for notification information r ofEmbodiment 3 can be calculated by equation 3, and therefore the samenumber of signaling bits as the conventional technique can bemaintained. Also, contiguous band allocation can be performed as shownin FIG. 15.

According to Embodiment 3, it is possible to freely allocate a clusterbandwidth in RBG units including one RBG, by matching the total numberof RBGs to be reported and the total number of RBGs to be allocated, andsetting the allocation start RBG index to be a notification start RBGindex +1 in the cluster located at the lowest frequency band and theallocation end RBG index to be a notification end RBG index −1 in thecluster located at the highest frequency band.

In Embodiment 3, there is a limitation that both ends of a system band(e.g., RBG indices 1 and 8 in FIG. 14) cannot be used for allocation.However, as described in Embodiment 2, the both ends of the system bandare generally used for transmitting control channel (e.g., PUCCH).Accordingly, such a limitation does not decrease frequency schedulinggain much, even when data channel (e.g., PUSCH) is not allocated to theboth ends of the system band. Thus, the increase in the number ofsignaling bits can be prevented while deterioration in performance isminimized.

In addition, the above embodiments have been described using the case oftwo clusters as an example. However, the present invention is notlimited to the present case, and the same can be applied to threeclusters or more.

Although a case has been described with the above embodiments as anexample where the present invention is implemented with hardware, thepresent invention can be implemented with software in cooperation withhardware.

Each function block employed in the description of each of theaforementioned embodiments may typically be implemented as an LSIconstituted by an integrated circuit. These may be individual chips orpartially or totally contained on a single chip. “LSI” is adopted herebut this may also be referred to as “IC,” “system LSI,” “super LSI,” or“ultra LSI,” depending on the differing extents of integration.

The method of implementing integrated circuitry is not limited to LSI,and implementation by means of dedicated circuitry or a general-purposeprocessor may also be used. After LSI manufacture, utilization of anField Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or a reconfigurable processor whereconnections and settings of circuit cells in an LSI can be regeneratedis also possible.

In the event of the introduction of an integrated circuit implementationtechnology whereby LSI is replaced by a different technology as anadvance in or derivation from semiconductor technology, integration ofthe function blocks may of course be performed using that technology.The application of biotechnology is also possible.

Although the present invention has been described above with embodimentsusing antennas, the present invention is equally applicable to antennaports.

An antenna port refers to a logical antenna comprised of one or aplurality of physical antennas. Thus, an antenna port is not limited torepresent one physical antenna, and may include an array antenna formedby a plurality of antennas.

For example, 3GPP LTE does not define the number of physical antennasfor forming an antenna port, but defines an antenna port as a minimumunit for transmitting different reference signals from a base station.

In addition, an antenna port may be defined as a minimum unit tomultiply weighting of a precoding vector.

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-140748, filed onJun. 21, 2010, including the specification, drawings and abstract, isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

A radio communication apparatus, a method of reporting an allocationresource, and a method of allocating data according to the presentinvention are applicable to, for example, a mobile communication systemsuch as LTE-Advanced.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   101, 208, 210 Antenna-   102, 211 Reception section-   103, 217 Demodulation section-   104 Scheduling information decoding section-   105 Frequency resource information calculating section-   106, 204 RBG total number setting section-   107, 203 Notification RBG calculating section-   108 Allocation RBG calculating section-   109 Coding section-   110, 206 Modulation section-   111 DFT section-   112 Mapping section-   113 IFFT section-   114 CP adding section-   115, 207 Transmission section-   201 Scheduling section-   202 Frequency resource information generating section-   205 Notification information generating section-   209 Holding section-   212 CP removing section-   213 FFT section-   214 Demapping section-   215 Frequency domain equalizing section-   216 IDFT section-   218 Decoding section

1.-8. (canceled)
 9. A base station apparatus comprising: an informationgenerating section that generates resource allocation information thatindicates a plurality of resources to be allocated to a terminalapparatus, in an uplink; and a transmission section that transmits theresource allocation information, wherein the resource allocationinformation includes indices corresponding to s and e and indicates eachresource composed of one or more contiguous RBGs where s represents astart RBG index and e-1 represents an end RBG index.
 10. The basestation apparatus according to claim 9 wherein, when the start RBG indexis equal to the end RBG index, a single RBG is allocated.
 11. The basestation apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the indices indicatingallocation of two resources in the uplink are generated by start RBGindex s1 and end RBG index e1 of a first resource, start RBG index s2and end RBG index e2 of a second resource, and the total number of RBGindices N, provided that N represents the total number of RBGs in asystem bandwidth in the uplink adding +1.
 12. The base station apparatusaccording to claim 11 wherein the indices indicating the allocation ofthe two resources in the uplink are generated based on the followingformula: $\begin{matrix}{{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{{2M} - 1}{\langle\begin{matrix}{N - b_{i}} \\{{2M} - i}\end{matrix}\rangle}},{b_{i} = \left\{ {s_{1},e_{1},s_{2},e_{2}} \right\}},{s_{1} < e_{1} < s_{2} < e_{2}}} & \lbrack 1\rbrack\end{matrix}$ in which M represents the number of resources allocated inthe uplink and is
 2. 13. A terminal apparatus comprising: a receptionsection that receives resource allocation information that indicates aplurality of resources allocated by a base station apparatus, in anuplink; and a transmission section that transmits data using theplurality of resources in the uplink based on the resource allocationinformation, wherein the resource allocation information includesindices corresponding to s and e and indicates each resource composed ofone or more contiguous RBGs where s represents a start RBG index and e-1represents an end RBG index.
 14. The terminal apparatus according toclaim 13 wherein, when the start RBG index s is equal to the end RBGindex e-1, a single RBG is allocated.
 15. The terminal apparatusaccording to claim 13, wherein the indices indicating allocation of tworesources in the uplink are generated by start RBG index s1 and end RBGindex e1 of a first resource, start RBG index s2 and end RBG index e2 ofa second resource, and the total number of RBG indices N, provided thatN represents the total number of RBGs in a system bandwidth in theuplink adding +1.
 16. The terminal apparatus according to claim 15,wherein the indices indicating the allocation of the two resources inthe uplink are generated based on the following formula: $\begin{matrix}{{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{{2M} - 1}{\langle\begin{matrix}{N - b_{i}} \\{{2M} - i}\end{matrix}\rangle}},{b_{i} = \left\{ {s_{1},e_{1},s_{2},e_{2}} \right\}},{s_{1} < e_{1} < s_{2} < e_{2}}} & \lbrack 2\rbrack\end{matrix}$ in which M represents the number of resources allocated inthe uplink and is
 2. 17. A method of radio transmission, the methodcomprising the steps of: generating resource allocation information thatindicates a plurality of resources to be allocated to a terminalapparatus in an uplink; and transmitting the resource allocationinformation, wherein the resource allocation information includesindices corresponding to s and e and indicates each resource composed ofone or more contiguous RBGs where s represents a start RBG index and e-1represents an end RBG index.
 18. A method of radio reception, the methodcomprising the steps of: receiving resource allocation informationindicating a plurality of resources allocated by a base stationapparatus in an uplink; and transmitting data using the plurality ofresources in the uplink based on the resource allocation information,wherein the resource allocation information includes indicescorresponding to s and e and indicates each resource composed of one ormore contiguous RBGs where s represents a start RBG index and e-1represents an end RBG index.